Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a highly effervescent and breezy comedy, is a wonderfully charming experience that arrives like a breath of fresh air during what has been a mostly lackluster film year. It helps that it is anchored by two stupendous lead actresses. Frances McDormand is wonderful as the title character, displaying a combination of vulnerability and comedic timing that make the character highly appealing. She is equally matched by the brilliant and luminous Amy Adams, who continues a string of enchanting performances with infectious energy. Lee Pace (of Pushing Daisies), Shirley Henderson, and Ciaran Hinds round out a fine supporting cast. Acting aside, the film's screenplay is effective, with particular strength regarding the relationship between Miss Pettigrew and Delysia (aided by strong chemistry between McDormand and Adams). The film is light as a feather, but it's a delightful experience with strong work from two of the best actresses currently working. A-

This was a good movie that was lifted highly by great performances by Frances McDormand and Amy Adams with some additional color by others.

I do want to see Enchanted again for comparision as in Miss Pettifrew, Amy Adams was truely enchanting in a sweet role.

Gah! I wanted to see this is weekend but I didn't have a chance.

Utterly delightful, thanks in large part to the performances from Frances McDormand and the effortlessly charming Amy Adams. I loved it. A-

Nicely done re-creation of a 1930's screwball comedy, though I daresay, as a fan of the genre, that a real 1930's director coulda got the job done with half the exposition and twice the screwiness. But... I merely quibble - - when ya got two such ace performances from Frances 'n' Amy, everyone's goin' home happy!

...and the story conceit of being set in one single day is brilliant - - it makes it!

6 out of 5.

Miss Pettigrew is marvelous light-hearted screwball comedy that hits all the right notes. Anchored by two outstanding performances (Adams & McDormand) along with a capable supporting cast that all really hit their stride mid-picture and carry it through to a strong finish. A nice change of pace from the below average mundane crap that Hollywood has been churning out this year.

Grade B+

Yes, a nice change of pace like Stardust was.

So who graded it "C"?

This was certainly a treat. Frances and Amy are both extremely brilliant, two of the best actresses working today. It won't be long before Adams gets her Oscar, and Frances, of course, already has hers (for one of the best performances, if not THE best performance of the 90's). I loved how confident this film was in what it in wanted to be, and didn't make any concessions to anything else. Unlike so much of what we see today, it just oozed with life. The high energy direction and camerawork were delightful, and the story was ripe with screwball complexity without getting to contrived. My only qualm, and what prevented this from being a great movie was the only slightly-above-average screenplay. There were witty moments, but just not enough of them. Luckily, the brilliant cast sort of disguised this. Oh, and the music was aces.

B
I want to grade it higher, but I just don't think it'll be memorable enough. Delightful throughout, it lacked moments.
Oh, and Focus sucks for dumping this.

I saw this because, after driving two, count 'em two, hours to see Funny Games, I was told there was an error with the distributor and they didn't have a print (it was apparently sent to Stroudsburg...maybe Groucho can see it). To make up for my terrible loss, I saw three pictures. This was one of 'em.

Anyway, for 25 minutes I was in heaven. This was a screwball comedy straight out of the 30s! How did I not know this existed? Sure, the timing of the gags seemed off ( I wish Charles Crichton was still alive), but an A for effort!

But then the movie started to lose its daffy edge and it became more and more complacent with the "chick flick" aspects. The snappy energy of the first act disappeared and everything became all gooey.

I'm pretty sure I didn't laugh once in the entire second half of the film. However, I did smile. Even when it stops trying to be funny, it remains sweet and well-acted. I really enjoyed it. I just wish the filmmakers had committed to really being insane. Watch Bringing Up Baby or My Man Godfrey; the picture and the characters within should be nutso from start to finish.

You'll know if this is your cup of tea. When it ended, I heard no less than four female parties in separate parts of the room coo "That was cute!"

By the way, Amy Adams...can do anything. She's Carole Lombard.

You know, it's rare you can find an actress and actually be able to put her in the same category as Carole Lombard.

But Amy Adams fits. She's just so damn good.

MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY - 7/10 ( B )

Delightful but easily forgettable fluff.

MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY (2008)



There's one word to describe this movie: Charming. It's one of those films where everything is more than solid (Writing, direction, performances, art, music, etc...) but none of these things truly stands out. So while it's impossible to dislike it (Seriously, a movie starring Frances McDormand and Amy Adams with supporting performances by Shirley Henderson and Lee Pace? How could that ever go wrong?) I don't find it possible to love it either. It reminded me a lot of Mrs. Henderson Presents, though this was much lighter and not as heavy-themed. The war issue was politely and tastefully referenced, yes, but I wanted more. In the end, Mrs. Pettigrew is like a piece of candy, sweet and delicious, but when it's over you quickly forget about it.

7/10 (B)

It reminded me A LOT of MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS. That movie was better though.

'If I didn't care' has to be one of the most romantic sequence of the year. I totally fell in love with it. It might be an over-reaction to say that I haven't been bewitched by a scene from a movie like this for a long time. The truth is, that does happen, rarely. With a fairy-tale scene like this, in a dazzling comedy with a superb performance from the great McDormand, this movie is easily a winner in my book. Everyone else was great also, but only McDormand truly stood out. Someone mentioned of how everything in this movie was great but nothing stood out. Beside the 'If I didn't care' scene and McDormand, yes I agree. Oh and Lee Pace's Michael Pardue character is now entering to my 'a man I desired' list, up there with Colin Firth's Mark Darcy in Bridget Jones's Diary. Now excuse me, I'm off to watch that scene again.

A-

B+


This is incredibly enjoyable and worth seeing if only due to the two leading performances. Frances McDormand and Amy Adams just make this film. One might say that Adams' Delysia Lafosse is just a variation on the characters she has played several times before, but I frankly don't care. She has that performance down to a tee. She's just absolutely adorable, engaging and energetic and wins over the viewers' heart just seconds after she enters the screen. McDormand much more sober and down-to-earth performance plays off Adams very well and their scenes together, in particular during the film's opening 20 minutes have some great screwball comedic gems.

As yoshue said above, the film seems somewhat out of breath having used up a lot of its energy and the situational comedy during its first half. In particular Delysia's romances didn't interest me much and while Lee Pace's performance wasn't bad, I didn't feel the so much needed chemistry between him and Adams. On the other hand, Ciarán Hinds (as great as ever) is a good fit for McDormand in this film. As it could have been expected, the film degenerates into the typical romcom clichés towards the end, but it is still kept well alive by the great leading performances and solid directing. Overall, it is a very enjoyable watch and I am sure to see it again some time down the road.